The fire was originally reported as being at 'Pulse' a bar/restaurant on the ground floor.

Redd is a lap dancing club that has only been open a few weeks and is situated on the first floor.

The fire has mostly destroyed the club and there is water damage to Pulse and a further shop below.

The fire is under control and almost out but due to the collapse of the roof, into the 1st floor it has proved difficult to extinguish the deep seated burning.

Smoke is still rising and small fires have continued to break out.

Firefighters are working with the police, West Sussex County Council Highways, Mid Sussex Distict Council and Burgess Hill Town Council to minimise the disruption to retailers and shoppers but there has been some disruption and restricted access to car parks and some shops.

Firefighters are due to at the scene for most of the day but hope the scale of operations and disruptions to the public will be scaled down as the day progresses.

The club was closed at the time the fire broke out, shortly before 2am and there are no reports of any injuries to either the public or firefighters.

Emergency services say that, at this time, it is too early to speculate as to the cause of the fire.